Assignment1 H Dobbs 145.

218

Assignment 1
145.218
Development and Inequality
15 August 2014
For Sharon McLennan
By Harley Dobbs
APA
Wordcount: 2000

Assignment1 H Dobbs 145.218

Assignment 1
The development of a geographical area is the improving of the lived experiences of individuals and
communities due to the sustained dedication of both effort and resources by governmental and nongovernmental bodies, individuals and communities. This enhancement of human life is carried out
in a systematic manner, affecting diverse elements of the world. Economic development is a key
target of

development efforts worldwide. The development of human interaction with the

environment towards environmental sustainability is another area which the umbrella term
'development' covers. Measuring the development of society including its qualitative/subjective
dimensions, such as the quality of life experienced by individuals', is crucial in order to understand
development processes. One country which is developing well is Morocco. The Moroccan national
economy is developing rapidly thanks to its applied efforts and adherence to IMF plans.
Additionally, the Moroccan government is also promoting environmental sustainability as part of
development. However, despite the progressive development,

various Moroccans struggle to

subside and the public infrastructure is somewhat poor compared to developed nations so it can be
considered a developing country. In general, however, current development efforts are ineffective
because

not all the individuals who are affected by development participate in development

planning, meaning that development planning is flawed as it excludes the opinions of those who
will most notice development efforts: those at the grassroots level.
Economic development is a target of government and NGO policies, involving the strengthening of
the economy of a physical area. The governmental definition of economic development is usually
achieving lower unemployment, higher wages, greater property values, increased profits for
local businesses[. . . and] more tax revenues (Bartik, 1991, p. 1). Development policies can either
function directly or indirectly. Direct economic development policies are designed specifically to
provide jobs (Bartik, 1991, p. 6). They aid businesses by alleviating their need to spend by
facilitating, for instance, tax subsidisation and the public funding of personnel training (Bartik,
1991, p. 3). Policies that cause indirect economic development are those which affect individuals'
abilities to work thus augmenting economic growth, such as public education (Bartik, 1991, p. 3). In
the third world, western economies and their development processes are used as models of
economic progress (Potter et al, 2004, pp. 51-2) and often fail due to their unsuitability for their
target societies (Potter et al, 2004, pp. 51-2). Development policies also fail by focusing on
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developing nation-state economies and transnational corporations (Woolcock, 1998, p. 153).

However, unlike NGOs and governments, individuals understand economies by experiencing them
first-hand and collectively are a larger group than the nation-state and corporations. For these
reasons, the inclusion of individuals in development planning is necessary. Such a process of
inclusion could even be considered as the development of social capital: a collective of individuals
who understand what is needed for development to progress due to personal experience and make
premeditated decisions about how to develop their communities.
The state of the economy is not the only concern of development. Sustainable environmental
policies for developing the manner of human interaction with nature are as important as those
directing economic development, because humanity survives from nature. So important is this, in
fact, that the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development states that development must occur
to meet the environmental needs of present and future generations (UN, 1992). Nevertheless,
much economic development is environmentally unsustainable (Chambers, 1987, cover page).
Nevertheless, humans dependence on the natural environment continues. In India, for example,
there are rope makers whose livelihoods depend on forests. However, having this kind of direct,
nature-human relationship at the base of subsistence becomes problematic due to livelihood loss
when the natural environments, such as Indian forests, are destroyed by the corporate elite who earn
money from doing so (Chambers, 1987, abstract). Logging, for example, is, actually, a major
environmental issue involving large-scale corruption among politicians and officials (Chambers,
1987, p. 3). Arguably, in order to ensure adequate policy relating to the environment and
development, politicians must ensure that no needless destruction of natural resources in the name
of corporate profit can occur and that nature remains as intact as possible in order to meet the
environmental needs of present and future generations (UN, 1992). Again, involving those who
have direct subsistence relationships with nature in development planning could ensure their
protection and continued use of such resources and, thereby, contribute to economic sustainability
by protecting natural resources.
Furthermore, successful economic development and its relevant environmental policies need
measuring in order to understand whether they are successful. For this, social indicators are used,
such as levels of crime and economic indices. Social indicators are societal measures . . .
reflect[ing] peoples objective circumstances in a given cultural or geographic unit (Diener, 1997,
p. 192). Multiple variables are studied to this end, including the wealth of nation-states (Diener,
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1997, p. 192). However, measuring state wealth is pointless as it ignores individual people's wealth
(Diener, 1997, p. 192). Moreover, according to Diener, monetary questions are insufficient (1997, p.
191). He argues that determining the quality of individuals' lived experiences is fundamental to
development (Diener, 1997, p. 191). This may be measured via a social indicator called subjective
well-being. Subjective well-being is founded on the idea that well-being can be determined from
experiential life (Diener, 1997, p. 191). This approach to development measurement differs from
social indicators such as health and education as it focuses on the development of contentedness
which is subjective. For example, one may consider they experience a good life because they adhere
to either philosophical systems or because they feel well in general, (Diener, 1997, p. 189) and these
feelings could exist regardless of monetary standing. This concept confirms the validity of Dieners
assertion (1997, p. 191) that economic questions are not the only questions necessary to guide
development. Wholly, the development of experiential reality goes is united with that of economic
and environmental policies and these must, therefore, be measured together to steer development
aptly.
Morocco is developing well according to economic indices. The IMF consider Morocco a success
due to IMF planning (Friedman, 2010, p. 4) involving the devaluing of the national currency and
Moroccan export proliferation (Friedman, 2010, p. 28). Exportation, moreover, was encouraged by
the 1906 Act of Algeciras (Friedman, 2010, p. 29) which permitted Morocco to form trading
relationships with commercial equality (Friedman, 2010, p. 29). However, development between
1906 and today was not linear. Between 1973 and 1977, King Hassan II tried to centralize wealth
around him by taking direct ownership of . . . industries, such as dairy companies (Friedman, 2010,
p. 33) and required corporations to be at least 51% Moroccan owned (Friedman, 2010, p. 34). His
following, 1979 to 1983, economic policies increased public investment in all economic areas and
impoverished the government (Friedman, 2010, p. 34). This decade of poor government caused
external debt to rise from $700M to $10.5B. Since 1983, however, the state has opened the
economy to international penetration (Friedman, 2010, p. 35). As already mentioned, Morocco
increased exports and devalued its currency and, consequently, the economy grew (Friedman, 2010,
p. 35). In addition to the elimination of agricultural subsidies (Friedman, 2010, p. 36), these
processes permitted the nation to reduce its budget deficit from 12% to <2% in 10 years (Friedman,
2010, p. 37). However, immediately following currency devaluation in 1983 . . . consumer prices
rose to >30%, resulting in civil unrest that caused hundreds of death (Friedman, 2010, p. 36).
Therefore, this compromising of individuals experiential reality compromised development,
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because the individuals who stimulate the economy retrogressed in respect to the quality of their
lives.
As part of the development process, the Moroccan government is also trying ensure that the natural
environment is respected. According to UNESCO, in the past 2 decades the Moroccan government
has volunteered to protect the national environment and natural resources (UNESCO, 2013, p. 34).
The government considers the concerns of environmental protection and sustainable development
core principles of development (UNESCO, 2013, p. 34). The country has various plans for
environmental and natural resource protection which it has implemented, including a National
Strategy for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development in 1995, a National Action
Plan for the Environment in 2002, and a project for creating a National Charter of Environmental
and Sustainable Development in 2009 (UNESCO, 2013, p. 34). In addition, Morocco has ratified 3
Rio Conventions, committing itself to sustainable development and environmental protection
(UNESCO, 2013, p. 35). Furthermore, in order to encourage environmental sustainability, social
capital is invested in. For example, Morocco participates in the UN Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development and, thereby, incorporates environmental education into the educational
system in order to create citizens who understand the need for environmental well-being (UNESCO,
2013, p. 35). However, once again, a possible pattern of lacking citizen participation in evident. For,
although the state encourages environmentally safe practices through education, this education may
not reach all individuals, let alone be recognised as valid by those it does reach, potentially leaving
environmental sustainability misunderstood and

due to this, environmental destruction may

continue as if education had never occurred.

However, considering the development of the Moroccan economy and the environmental policies
that go with it, it is clear the country is developing . Nevertheless, Morocco is not considered a
developed country according to the 2008 Worldfactbook (in Guise, Eden, Emeis Denman, Marshall,
Fu, Janik, Nygren, Walker and McDonagh, 2014) as can be seen in figure 1. Although the country is
advancing economically, high unemployment, poverty and illiteracy are present (CIA, 2014,
economy section). Additionally, some practices exist in the country which are supposedly frowned
upon in developed nations, such as the USA, Canada, Aotearoa, Japan, etc, that indicate this lack of
development. Child labour and child slavery still exist, for example. Children are sold as slaves to
produce carpet (Ruggiero, 1997, p. 232; Anti-slavery Society, 2007) and are contracted as domestic
workers (Sommerfelt, 2001, pp. 23-4). In a developed country, such as Aotearoa, such widespread
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and organised child abuse does not happen. Another indication that the country is not developed is
that laws remain unenforced on a wide-scale. Despite cannabis being illegal in Morocco, for
example, the police do not control its commercial cultivation. Marijuana is widely grown in the Rif
valley and smuggled into Europe (Migdalovitz, 2010, p. 7). Again in a developed country, such as
Aotearoa, Australia or Japan, highly developed, organised crime like this is restricted by police.
Therefore, yet again, despite governmental development efforts focused on economic growth,
individuals, such as children sold into slave labour and those who risk their prospects smuggling
narcotics, are suffering.

Figure 1: Map showing different levels of global development (Kidsmaps, 2014).

The criteria for a the label developed should not be based on economic and political activity as
these are often disconnected from the well-being of individuals and communities. Attempting to
reach development by focusing on evolving economically and politically is, therefore, futile.
Development criteria could, instead, be based on the experiential reality of individuals. Moreover,
although growth of the economy is usually the focus of development, it ignores the idea of
individual well being. How environmental policies relating to economic development are being
developed is useful but is unless each individual understands and practises environmental
sustainability, they are fruitless. Morocco is a developing country. Although its economy has
developed, its citizens suffer from this developmental process. Its pro-environmental sustainability
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Assignment1 H Dobbs 145.218

may not be effective as, perhaps, not all Moroccans practise sustainability. Morocco is excluded
from the 2008 Worldfactbook (in Guise, Eden, Emeis Denman, Marshall, Fu, Janik, Nygren, Walker
and McDonagh) list of developed countries. It continues to use slaves and exploit children, which is
unacceptable in the developed world. Morocco seem to demonstrate a link between development
and inequality, because as an underdeveloped country, it demonstrates attrocities of inequality at the
local level (such as the slavery children and child labour). What is more, people in developed
regions, such as Europe, may live with much less anxiety about subsistence than those of
underdeveloped Africa. Considering that these regions are adjacent, the inequality between them is
a stark juxtaposition.

Assignment1 H Dobbs 145.218

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